Any experience here with solar panels or windmills?

I've been interested in potentially going a smidgeon more green, and was
wondering if anyone here has any experience with solar panels (water
warming, or even photo voltaic), and/or windmills.
The research online does not compare to useful observations from people who
have actually installed them.

Al Gore does not have solar panels, or any other energy saving
improvements, installed on his 40,000 sq ft Nashville, Tennessee house.
Since he is the recipient of an Academy Aware for his documentary, "An
Inconvenient Truth", on global warming, I guess they don't work, or it
is just us who haven't a wife that is the heiress of the Heinz fortune
have to make the sacrifices. He uses over 18,000 kwh of electricity a
month and his natural gas bill is over $1000 per month.
George Bush does have energy saving improvements on his house in
Crawford, Texas.
No cites here, just Google it.

The thing about {still chuckling} that internet comment is that I more or
less understand what I *think* he meant by it, and it's more or less
forgiveable. But it is without a doubt one of those comments that sticks to
you like JB weld.

Yes, I'm well aware of what he said. This statement:
During my service in the United States
Congress, I took the initiative in creating
the Internet.
...s enough to stick. Note the key components of this:
*I* -- Al Gore
*I took the initiative* -- Al Gore did something on his own that was novel
*creating the internet* -- creating means that there was no internet before,
and then there was. "Invented" is hardly a far cry from that.
Did this statement float around without context? Yep. Did it stand all by
itself as something obnoxious? No, I'm pretty sure what he meant by it,
given the context of the conversation. But it is not "pure bunk"-----the
public /misunderstanding/ of this is purely understandable.

Right.
But it took the Republican "slime machine" to obscure the truth and
propagate the lie through an intellectually-lazy bunch of disgruntled
"ditto heads" into the wider culture.
If you want to know what two of the acknowledged "internet wizzards"
(Robert Kahn and Vint Cerf) thought [in 2000] about Al Gore's
contributions to the creation and growth of the internet-as-we-know-it,
check out:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2000/10/02/net_builders_kahn_cerf_recognise /
Here are some direct quotes:
"Al Gore was the first political leader to recognize the importance of
the Internet and to promote and support its development. . . . AS THE
TWO PEOPLE WHO DESIGNED THE BASIC ARCHITECTURE AND THE CORE PROTOCOLS
THAT MAKE THE INTERNET WORK, we would like to acknowledge VP Gore's
contributions as a Congressman, Senator and as Vice President. No other
elected official, to our knowledge, has made a greater contribution over
a longer period of time.
[Emphasis added]
. . .
"The fact of the matter is that Gore was talking about and promoting the
Internet long before most people were listening. We feel it is timely to
offer our perspective.
. . .
"As far back as the 1970s Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high
speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the
improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official
to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader
impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship.
Though easily forgotten now, at the time this was an unproven and
controversial concept. Our work on the Internet started in 1973 and was
based on even earlier work that took place in the mid-late 1960s. But
the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983.
. . .
"As a Senator in the 1980s Gore urged government agencies to consolidate
what at the time were several dozen different and unconnected networks
into an "Interagency Network. . . . Gore secured the passage of the High
Performance Computing and Communications Act in 1991. This "Gore Act"
supported the . . . initiative that became one of the major vehicles for
the spread of the Internet beyond the field of computer science.
"As Vice President Gore promoted building the Internet both up and out,
as well as releasing the Internet from the control of the government
agencies that spawned it.
. . .
". . . No one in public life has been more intellectually engaged in
helping to create the climate for a thriving Internet than the Vice
President."

Just for openers, Tipper Gore is NOT the heiress of the Heinz fortune. I'll
leave it to others to decide how much of the rest of your post is accurate.
Just for starters...
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/al_gore_gets_a.php

You are working too hard. Just buy "carbon credits" and pat yourself on
the back for being considerate and thoughtful.
Seriously the least expensive way to get a little greener is to look at
your current consumption and see what you can reduce.

adding insulation, buying a FUEL EFFICENT VEHICLE, CF lights, these
will no doubt net way larger savings than going solar or wind......
although all have advantages.
wind is location location location, solar needs living where you get
lots of sun.. desert southwest good, pittsburgh why bother.

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